Nick Brignola eats up the changes on "Sister Sadie"

[Larry Kart]

on bari and then on alto, with Mike Holobar, Rick Syracuse, and Dick Berk

 

 

 

[cliffpeterson]

Lovely recording.   Nick allegedly approved of this release but not the later release of "Things Ain't What They Used To Be: Last Set at Sweet Basil", which was issued after Nick's death.  Reservoir's owner thought that music was worthy of release. 

As I recall, Nick also plays soprano on at least one cut on the album.

BTW- it is "Rich", not "Rick" Syracuse and Mike "Holober", not "Holobar". 

Edited March 22, 2021 by cliffpeterson

[Larry Kart]

Thanks for the corrections.

[Larry Kart]

9 hours ago, cliffpeterson said:

Lovely recording.   Nick allegedly approved of this release but not the later release of "Things Ain't What They Used To Be: Last Set at Sweet Basil", which was issued after Nick's death.  Reservoir's owner thought that music was worthy of release. 

As I recall, Nick also plays soprano on at least one cut on the album.

BTW- it is "Rich", not "Rick" Syracuse and Mike "Holober", not "Holobar". 

I've heard the same about "Things Ain't What They Used To Be: Last Set at Sweet Basil."
In recent months I've picked up four or so of the Reservoir Brignola albums. Not a weak one in the bunch. The one (if there's only one) with Jack De Johnette is really special; Nick's and Jack's rhythmic energy were a perfect rhyme. As that version (above) of "Sister Sadie" suggests, Nick wasn't just a burly, hard-charging player but a very brainy, heady one, too.

[cliffpeterson]

DeJohnette played on "On a Different Level", which is the only Brignola Reservoir release that I know of with Jack.  The other musicians on that recording were Dave Holland and Kenny Barron. I agree with you about the quality of that album, which was well named.  

Like Nick did,  I live in the New York Capital Region (Albany/Troy/Schenectady) and saw him 3-4 times a year.  "Sister Sadie" was often included in his sets.  "Tenderly" was another favorite of his,  which he always played on clarinet. His rendition hits my sweet spot.  "Tenderly" appears on "Raincheck". 

[sgcim]

Great sound on bari. I could listen to an entire record of his without bailing. Switching to alto doesn't hurt.

[JSngry]

Did he ever get to record a solo while he was with Woody? I don't recall one right off hand.

"Rick Syracuse" would have been a great name, btw.  For Firesign, for porn, for baseball, you name it, pretty much for anything except jazz, or plumbing.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Nick was a favorite of mine. I never missed him when he played in the Boston area. "On A Different Level" is a great CD.

[cliffpeterson]

nick from 1981:

 

 

[Late]

On 3/22/2021 at 3:50 PM, bresna said:

"On A Different Level" is a great CD.

That is the Brignola CD I play the most. The Penguin Guide is also fond of it, if I recall correctly.

Did Baritone Madness with Pepper Adams ever make it to CD?

[HutchFan]

18 minutes ago, Late said:

Did Baritone Madness with Pepper Adams ever make it to CD?

In the Mosaic Bee Hive set.  I think that's the only digital issue.

 

[Brad]

3 hours ago, HutchFan said:

In the Mosaic Bee Hive set.  I think that's the only digital issue.

 

I seem to remember it on a cd (other than Mosaic), but could be in error. 

[Kevin Bresnahan]

11 hours ago, Late said:

That is the Brignola CD I play the most. The Penguin Guide is also fond of it, if I recall correctly.

Did Baritone Madness with Pepper Adams ever make it to CD?

The owner of the Bee Hive label only licensed out the Johnny Hartman date for release on CD (released as part of the "Bridges of Madison County" soundtrack). The rest of the catalog was never on CD until Mosaic licensed it. I pestered Michael Cuscuna for this release for decades and I'm very grateful that he was finally able to do it. There is some great music in that set. As far as I know, no one else has licensed any of the Bee Hive catalog and I've never seen any single CD releases.

I do have "Baritone Madeness" & "Burn Brigade" on CD-Rs that I burned from my LPs back in the day.

[sidewinder]

2 hours ago, bresna said:

The owner of the Bee Hive label only licensed out the Johnny Hartman date for release on CD (released as part of the "Bridges of Madison County" soundtrack). The rest of the catalog was never on CD until Mosaic licensed it. I pestered Michael Cuscuna for this release for decades and I'm very grateful that he was finally able to do it. There is some great music in that set. As far as I know, no one else has licensed any of the Bee Hive catalog and I've never seen any single CD releases.

I do have "Baritone Madeness" & "Burn Brigade" on CD-Rs that I burned from my LPs back in the day.

A good prompt to get that set out and give it an overdue ‘airing’. That was a good time, when the likes of Beehive and Xanadu were putting out all those modern/mainstream releases after the drought of years before.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

4 hours ago, sidewinder said:

A good prompt to get that set out and give it an overdue ‘airing’. That was a good time, when the likes of Beehive and Xanadu were putting out all those modern/mainstream releases after the drought of years before.

There is a lot of good music in that set. Nothing earth-shattering, just good hard bop dates. On top of the Brignola's sessions, I do like Sal Nisitco's dates (one under his own name and another on Curtis Fuller's LP) but don't sleep on the group led "Hyde Park After Dark" with Clifford Jordan, Von Freeman & Cy Touff in the front line.

[Ken Dryden]

NIck Brignola was in the process of being booked to play in Chattanooga when his health failed and he died not long afterward. It's a shame that I never got to hear him in person.